Conditioning apparatus



2 Sheets-Sheet l March l0, 1931. T. w. w. FoRREsT CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed May 7, 195o March 10, 1931. T, w, W FORREST 1,795,302

CONDITIMONING APPARATUS Filed May 7, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNEYJ 20 Other objects will appear from the draw? Patented Mar. 10, 1931 UNITED` STATES PATENT OFFICE THOMAS W. W. FORREST, OF FRESNO, CALIFORIYTIA, ASSIGNOR TO -SU'N-MAID RAISIN GROWEB-S OF CALIFORNIA, OF FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, A COOPERATIVE lASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA CONDITIONING .AlIPPAIGA'l'US Reed for abandoned application Serial No. 751,567, fled-1\Tovenf1ber22,` 1924. This application led May w brought into the proper condition bythe removal of heat and superfluous moisture.

My apparatus is particularly advantageous in the treatment of raisins and in that part of the process of preparing the raisins for the l market after they have left the seeder although it may also be used for the remoyal of heat, moisture and the surface conditioning or unseeded raisins, seedless raisins or otherl products. g

ings and specifications which follow.

These objects I accomplish by passing the product to be conditioned through a tubular member wherein the product units undergoa constant rearrangement and exposure of their surfaces in a zone of relatively dry air which air takes up the heat and surface moisture and conditions the product units for subsequent handling or packing. The utilized air is re- 30 moved as fast as it takes up the moisture and 35 Zontal view of apparatus especially adapted to the conditioning of raisins and containing my invention, with certain of the parts broken away to better illustrate the interior construction.

- Fig. 2 is a cross section of Fig. 1 on the line IIe-II thereof.

Fig. 3 is an end View of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an alternate arrangement of a portion of a different apparatus containing my invention. Y

Fig. 5 is a cross section of Fig. 4 onthe line V-V thereof. f

Fig. 6 is a diagram of the assembly of the apparatus fragmentarily shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Serial No. 450,580.

Throughout the figures similar numerals referto identical parts. Y

The numeral 1 indicates a cylindrical chamber in which is mounted the cylindrical compartment 2 lperforated with a large number of perforations arranged longitudinally at 3. At 4 is a rotating main driving shaft adapted to be driven by any conventional power means and on this shaft is mounted the hub 5 carrying the conveyor 6 by which the raisins are advanced from the inlet 7 to the outlet 8. I prefer to use a toothed spiral conveyor as shown but other forms may be used if preferred.

A valve of the paddle wheel type is shown atl() mounted on the shaft 9 driven by the chain and sprockets 11 to control the rater of flow of the raisins from the inlet 7 into the cylindrical compartment 2 consistent with the rate of travel of the raisins and the capacity of the apparatus.

At 12 is aA paddle wheel discharge valve mounted on the shaft 13 for the discharge of the raisins in the direction of the arrow 14 after they have been conditioned.

At 15, 16, 17, are a plurality of inlets to the chamber 1 adapted to supply dry compressed air to the space 18 between chamber 1 and compartment 2. At 19 is a. vdischarge chest longitudinally mounted on the wall of the compartment 2 and communicating with the interior of compartment 2 by a plurality of ports 20.

The discharge chest is exhausted by the plurality of eXhaust pipes shown at 21, 22, 23, communicating through the main eXhaust pipe 24 with conventional eXhaust apparatus which removes the moisture-laden air in the direction of the arrow 25.

The lower wall of the chamber 1 is procaused by the removal of seeds making a better appearing and more freely flowing product. T his may be accomplished by Varying the inclination of apparatus and therefore the raisin path, the pitch of the conveyor, the diameter of the chamber or the speed of the apparatus, or a combination of said factors.

The operation is as follows: Raisins to be conditioned are fed into the inlet hopper 7 and their rate` of flow into the compartment 2 controlled by the paddle` valve 10 from which they fall. into the inlet en d of the conipertinent and are there picked up by the spiral conveyor 6 which turns them about among),i then'iselves during their successive increments of travel constantly .exposing their surfaces to the act-ion of the flowing air.

Because of the action of the spiral-toothed conveyor in the direction of the arrow 30 (see Fig. the raisins will be distributed along the lower portion of one of the walls of the compartment 2 as shown at 3l and will trayel from one end of the compartment to the other in substantially this position to the right of a vertical plane through the shaft ll, and duringl their travel will be constantly exposed to the action of flowing' dry and cold air from the connections l5, 16, 17, and filling the space 18 from which the air will through a large number of ports 3 into the mass of agitated raisins collectingl therefrom their surface moisture and heat and Will then pass through the ports 2O and chest 19 and out through the exhaust pipes 2l, 22, 23, into the common pipe 24 and in the direction of the arrow 25 to the exhaust apparatus.

rlhe superfluous moisture and heat will therefore be abstracted from the raisins 31 during their transit from the. inlet 7 to the outlet 8 and upon arriving' at the end of the conveyor (i they fall through the outlet and paddle discharge valve l2 in the direction of the arrow lei, fully conditioned and ready for handling or packing.

leferringi' particularly to Fics l, 5 and (i wherein is shown another forni ot apparatus employing' my invention; a tubular chamber is indicated by the numeral el() within which is mounted a concentric substantially semiejyflindrical member of smaller radius indicated at forming with the sides 42. iy closed inlet space Llll and having a longitudinal cut-away portion having substantially the width indicated by the dimension line lio. At l? is a rotating, shaft and at i8 a cyiindrical member perforated or of screen .material mount-ed to rotate with the shaft l5 and supported on the spider 49.

At is a. compressed air inlet supply to the space el and at 5l is a connection to the space 52 between the upper portion of the eh amber l0 and screen member 48.

The apparatus is mounted with a downward inclination as indicated in Fig. e so that as the screen 4S rotates in the direction of the arrow 30 the rasins will be fed from the inlet end 55 towards the outlet end 5G and will occupy that portion of the cylindrical inember i-8 to the right of the longitudinal central vertical plane as indicated in section at 57 substantially over the cut-away portion 45 in the member lll.

rlhe operation will be that, as the rasins travel from 55 to 5 dry air will flow from the space sa through the screen member 48 opposite the cut-away portion 45 of the member 4l and through the raisins 57 abstracting the heat and superfluous moisture and thence outward through the upper half of the cylindrical screen 48 into the space 52 and thence outward through the pipes 5l, 59, and connecting pipe 60 to conventional exhaust apparatus.

lVhei-e a. particularly high grade product is desired, glycerine or other reagent may be introduced with the air and the product units will thereupon take a modicuin of the reagent improving their surface appearance and consistency.

l claim:

l. Fruit conditioning apparatus comprising a substantially horizontally arranged cylindrical chamber with a cylindrical coinpartinent therein, a spiral conveyor arranged within the compartment to transfer product therethrough, perforations positioned in the lower portion of the compartment wall to one side of the vertical center line and drain means from the chamber.

2. Fruit conditioning apparatus comprising a substantially horizontally arranged cylindrical chamber, a spiral conveyor adapted for transferring dried fruit through said chamber, an inlet valve controlling the delivery of fruit to the chamber and substantially sealing the entrance from out r atmosphere, and similar sealing means forming a discharge from said chamber, an outer casing,` spacedly surrounding` said chamber and said chamber being-perforated to one side only of its vertical center line below its horizontal center line.

means at the hottoin of the outer casino', a

spiral conveyor Within the inner casing and said casing having a Zone of perforations therein achacent the bottom to one side of its vertical center line only communicating with 'the inter casing,l space. Y

4. Fruit conditioning apparatus comprising an outer cylindrical casing substantially horizontally arranged, aiiinner cylindrical casing spaced Within said outer casing,

an inverted trough on top of the inner casing forming a longitudinal channel flue sealed l space.

THOMAS W. W. FORREST.4 

